onight the first inside story of the mission to kill bin laden, as told by one of the seals who shot him. >> was the plan to kilo osama bin laden or capture him before you went in? >> pelley: as the democratic convention opens tonight, the first lady tells the nation why her husband deserves a second term. reports from bob scheiffer, norah o'donnell and nancy cordes. is the auto industry better off than it was four years ago? dean reynolds has today's surprising numbers. and the unlikely road from san antonio to charlotte. the young keynote speaker, mayor of a major city, tells lee cowan about the day he met the president. >> somewhere in the conversation

he asked if i was an intern. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley. >> pelley: and good evening. on the first night of the convention here in charlotte. today the pentagon said a former navy seal, who was among those who shot osama bin laden, may (no audio) information in a new book. "no easy day" hit bookstores today at number one on the best seller list. the author, who writes under the pen name mark owen is the first member of seal team six to explain what happened in the raid on bin laden's compound in may of last year. owen has done one interview, which will air on "60 minutes" this sunday. tonight we have part of that interview in which owen tells us about the helicopter crash that might have scuttled the mission. in the interview, owen is

disguised and his voice has been altered. was the plan to kilo osama bin laden or capture him before you went in? >> this was absolutely not a kill-only mission. it was made very clear to us throughout our training for this that, hey, if given the opportunity, this is not an assassination. you will capture him alive if feasible. >> pelley: that was the preferredded thing take him alive if you could. >> yeah. we're not there to assassinate somebody. we weren't sent in to murder him. this was, hey, kill or capture. >> pelley: they would fly from afghanistan in two modified blackhawk helicopters to bin laden's compound in abbottabad pakistan. pakistan didn't know they were coming. the helicopters, flown by the army'sñr 160th special operations aviation regiment flew at tree top level on a moonless night to avoid pakistani air defenses.

owen showed us on a model that we built how they reached the target and prepared to slide down ropes into the compound, but then everything went wrong. in owen's chopper. >> all of a sudden we banked hard 90 degrees. once we went hard 90, it was very apparent something was wrong. >> pelley: something about the downdraft hitting the complex of walls below caused the heavily loaded helicopter to faulter in the air. >> these pilots with "the" best in the world. you don't get better than these guys. typically, boom, they move right in and they stick it. it's like parking a car for these guys. it was a rough, it was a rough ride. so something was obviously going wrong. happened to miss this wall here. then we were just kind of sliding and falling out of the sky this way. at this point it was pretty sure we were definitely going in. >> pelley: going to crash. yeah. pelley: as the helicopter is going down, what were you thinking? >> this is going to suck.

hey, wow. >> pelley: as we mentioned, the pentagon is concerned that owen has given up sensitive information in the book. it said it's keeping its legal options open. all navy seals sign a nondisclosure agreement. normally a book like this is submitted to the government for review before it is released. this was pentagon spokesman george little today. >> to me it's quite incredible that someone invested with preserving our nation's see decrees, particularly in very sensitive missions, didn't think to have this reviewed. >> pelley: owen says this the "60 minutes" interview that there is no classified information in the book. his lawyer said today the book does not disclose any material that would breach owen's agreements or put his former comrades at risk. the full interview will be the full hour on "60 minutes" this sunday september 9 at 7:00 eastern time. tonight, the person who knows

president obama best will make the case for a second term. this is michelle obama's night on the stage. we have our campaign 2012 team covering it. first we'll go to norah o'donnell, cohost of cbs this morning. >> scott, you know, if mitt romney was trying to make the case that president obama has failed to lead, first lady michelle obama tonight will argue that president obama is the only one who understands the struggles of middle class america. i spoke with several advisors to the obama campaign today who described this as a very personal speech. the first lady will talk about the values and experiences that drive the president every day in the oval office. she's going to remind viewers of her husband's personal story, growing up with a single mom, being raised by a working grandmother. we told there will be personal anecdotes about their marriage. the first lady will brag about the president in a way that only a spouse can do. she'll tout a number of accomplishments including a bill that made it easier for women to sue employers who discriminate

against them in the work, making college more affordable and the president's signature achievement, the health care law. she's also going to talk to americans tonight about her work in the white house specifically working with veterans when they've come home from the wars in iraq and afghanistan. and then, scott, finally one interesting thing that i heard today about this convention that kicks off here tonight is that there will be these two big speeches that will give some deep insight into who barack obama is. michelle obama's going to be the one who talks about the personal stuff. then vice president joexd biden thursday will talk about the president as commander in chief and his accomplishments. >> pelley: thank you, norah. you may recall mitt romney went to the convention hall last week to watch the well received speech of his wife, ann. well, president obama will not be here tonight. we asked nancy cordes to find out why. nancy. >> well, scott, it's because the first daughters have their first day of school today. in fact, the president's older daughter malia had her first day

as a full fledged high school student. he stayed here to hold down the fort although when he was at a rally in norfolk, virginia, today he joked that perhaps the first lady's speech tonight will be better than his. >> you know, this is just like a relay. you start off with the fastest person. so i'm going to be at home. i'm going to be watching it with our girls. i am going to try not to let them see their daddy cry. because when michelle starts talking, i start get all misty. >> reporter: it was a brief moment of levity in a day dominated by back-and-forth over the president's answer to this question from a local cbs reporter. >> your party says you inherited a bad situation. you've had three-and-a-half years to fix it. what grade would you give yourself so far for doing that? >> you know, i would say incomplete. >> reporter: it's something the president has said many times before. but with the democratic convention just underway in charlotte, republicans saw an

opportunity. they filled reporters' in-boxes with press release saying incomplete isn't good enough. vice president shall nominee paul ryan had this to say on cbs this morning. >> four years into a presidency and incomplete? the president is asking people just to be patient with him? look, charlie, the kind of recession we had, we should be bouncing out of it, creating jobs. we're not creating jobs at near the pace we could. >> reporter: an obama campaign official argued to us that incomplete is a perfectly reasonable answer to that question, that this was a deep recession. of course, the economy is still bouncing back and that that is exactly why the president wants four more years, so he can finish the job. >> pelley: nancy, thanks. the race for the white house is essentially tied. republicans were hoping for a bounce in the polls after their convention. but have a look at this. in a gallup poll taken right before the republican convention last week, mitt romney had a one-point lead over president

obama. 47% to 46%. in the new gallup poll after the g.o.p. convention, it's the president with a one-point edge. 47% to 46%. but both leads are well within the poll's margin of error. here, as always during our convention coverage, is bob scheiffer, our chief washington correspondent, the anchor of "face the nation." bob, what do you see in these poll numbers. >> schieffer: scott, as we say on the golf course, every shot makes somebody happy. the romney people would not be very happy about this, but the folks on this side of the street are absolutely delighted. this is not the first time that a candidate has not gotten an increase at the polls after his convention. george mcgovern made his acceptance speech at 3:00 in the morning. he got no bump in the polls after that. john kerry got no bump in the polls after his convention in 2004. but this is the first time this has ever happened to a

republican nominee. now, it may well be that the reason for this is that there are so few undecided voters now. most americans have already made up their minds. so, the obama folks should enjoy this while they can, but they should be keep in mind that it may happen to their guy too for exactly the same reason. >> pelley: nothing seems to be moving the race very much, bob. thanks very much. bob and i will bring you live coverage of the democratic national convention tonight at 10:00. that's 7:00 in the west. president obama, of course, is making the health of the car industry a big issue, claiming credit for saving general motors. well, today, g.m. reported that its sales rose 10% in august compared with a year ago. ford's were up 13% and chrysler's sales rose by 14%. we asked dean reynolds to look at why detroit is in high gear. >> reporter: five million americans either build or sell cars and trucks. today workers showing up for the

mid-day shift at g.m.'s plant in arlington, texas, were smiling. >> that's wonderful. i hope they keep going you. everybody here needs to keep working. >> reporter: sales growth in august exceeded the predicts of industry analysts and led usually cautious company executives, like kurt mcneil of g.m., to crow about their progress. >> when you think about all the jobs that we provide to the u.s. and the supply base, it's incredibly important and it will continue to become more and more important to this great country. >> reporter: a small bump in the construction industry fueled pick-up sales and easier financing helped move s.u.v.s and sudans. industry analysts joe wiesenfelder of cars . com says car makers have recovered from the recession. >> there's no doubt the u.s. industry is in better shape. than it was four years ago. it's really returning more to the way things were before 2008. >> reporter: the u.s. industry

is now on pace to sell 14.5 million vehicles this year. four million more than their 30-year sales low in 2009. but to get to this point, chrysler and g.m. had to go through bankruptcy, had to close more than 3,000 dealerships, and shed workers. 1.2 million people were in auto manufacturing a decade ago. now there are just 790,000. while the u.s. market seems to be growing, scott, economic problems in europe are proving to be a huge drag on the american car makers. general motors alone lost more than 200 million dollars in europe during the first half of this year. >> pelley: dean, thank you. women could well decide this presidential election. in a moment, we'll show you why. and firefighters battle wild fire in california. when the cbs evening news continues. from charlotte.

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voting for the presiden mostly f social issues. she likes the president's health care reform. and its guaranteed coverage of contraception. she does not like that mitt romney would repeal the reform and that romney opposes most abortions. when the republican-controlled legislature in virginia voted to force women getting an abortion to view the fetus on an ultrasound, blout felt that women were being targeted. >> in virginia i see an absolutely... there's a war against women in virginia. >> reporter: a war against women. >> a war against women. i want to make my own decisions between me and my doctor and nobody else. that's what they're targeting. >> reporter: mary mireles, a voter in herndon, virginia, calls the notion of a war on women preposterous. mireles, a tell come manager and mother of two, supports romney because her issue is the sputtering economy. >> i'm very concerned about being able to afford getting my children to college and getting myself to retirement. >> reporter: in the latest poll by cbs news, the president leads mitt romney with women voters by

10 points nationwide but by more in some of the key swing states. in polls done in august by quinnipiak, cbs news and the "new york times," the president's lead with female voters was 14 points in virginia, 1 in ohio, and 12 points in florida. in all of these states, the president is running social issue ads aimed at women stressing the romney-ryan positions on abortion and contraception. >> mitt romney opposes requiring insurance coverage for contraception. >> reporter: but romney has strong appeal among married women voters like mary mireles. with them romney has a four-point lead in the polls. >> i love you women. reporter: that's why ann romney stressed so many pocketbook concerns in last week's convention speech. >> the good job, the chance at college, that home you want to buy just get harder. >> when mr. romney argues he will be the better job creator, that resonates with you. >> yes, it does. he knows how to run a company.

he's been a ceo. he has run the winter olympics. he knows how to get the job done, how to hire people, how to create jobs and how to create wealth. >> reporter: but emily blout's support for the president is is also based on the pocketbook. the financial relief she feels with the certainty of health insurance. >> it's intimately connected to the economy. and my ability to get a job and my ability to make a good life for me and my future children. >> reporter: the women's vote is so crucial this election year because the gender gap is what gives the president his narrow lead overall in key swing states like virginia. newer, scott, to win this election, the president needs to hold his lead with women while romney needs to diminish it or take it away. >> pelley: thanks, wyatt. syria's civil war has created a humanitarian crisis that is spreading beyond its borders. the united nations said today that more than 100,000 syrians

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>> pelley: in a report out today, the centers for disease control said one in three americans has high blood pressure. that's 67 million people at risk for heart disease or stroke. and more than half don't have it under control. the c.d.c. estimates that 14 million have high blood pressure and don't know it. firefighters made progress today against a wild fire outside los angeles. the fire, which has burned about six square miles in the national forest, is now 15% contained. the hilly terrain has made battling the fire quite a challenge. hurricane isaac hit the gulf coast one week ago tonight. emergency officials in louisiana said today that at least 13,000 homes were damaged. they're still adding up the damage in mississippi. isaac is blamed for eight deaths. he's a household name in san antonio. tonight america meets mayor

julian castro. tonight america meets mayor julian castro. we'll have his story next. da we've worked hard to keep it. bp has paid over twenty-three billion dollars to help people and businesses who were affected, and to cover cleanup costs. today, the beaches and gulf are open for everyone to enjoy -- and many areas are reporting their best tourism seasons in years. we've shared what we've learned with governments and across the industry so we can all produce energy more safely. i want you to know, there's another commitment bp takes just as seriously: our commitment to america. bp supports nearly two-hundred-fifty thousand jobs in communities across the country. we hired three thousand people just last year. bp invests more in america than in any other country. in fact, over the last five years, no other energy company has invested more in the us than bp. we're working to fuel america for generations to come. today, our commitment to the gulf, and to america, has never been stronger.

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will make history as the first hispanic to deliver the keynote. we asked lee cowan to introduce us to julian castro. >> reporter: how long have you been working on that now? >> for a couple weeks now. reporter: the pages in the mayor of san antonio hand are his ticket to the biggest political stage of his life. >> if somebody told me when i was in the last year of law school that i would have been doing this now, i would have told them they were crazy. >> reporter: if he looks young, he is. >> reporter: if he looks young, he is. at 37, julian castro is the youngest mayor of any major u.s. city. in fact not... a fact not lost on president obama when castro visitedded the white house three years ago. >> he walked in. at some point in the conversation he asked if i was an intern. >> reporter: he asked that? jokingly. but i know i must have looked younger than everybody else there by at least 15 years. >> reporter: texas is is a reliably red state and some criticize high school age and his policies. but what the white house is interested in is his background. a mexican-american, castro is well aware his role tonight is

to help bring hispanic voter into the obama tent. his mother rose castro was a latino activist who ran for city council herself. she lost. her old campaign poster hangs on the wall of her son's office as a reminder of just how things have changed. >> my grandmother and my mother lived during a time when you would see signs that said, "no mexicans or dogs allowed." america has made profound and wonderful progress since that time. >> reporter: he's not the family's only standard bearer. if you think you're seeing double you're not. that is his identical twin brother joaquin. how often do you guys get confused? all the time. it's usually me getting called his name. >> reporter: they both went to stanford, both went to harvard law and both went into politics. joaquin is leading in the race for his district's congressional seat and will introduce his brother tonight. i've always believed that as long as you do a great job in whatever you're doing at the moment that there will be opportunities for you. >> reporter: for his brother, that opportunity has arrived.

with the polls showing basically a dead heat he's got his work cut out. how do you address those people though who voted for obama in '08 but feel a bit disillusioned, a bit disappointed? >> the economy is not where everybody wants it to be. but if you compare it to where we started, the month that he was inaugurated, losing almost 800,000 jobs, you know, change takes time. but you have clearly seen progress. >> reporter: as for his progress, when we left him he was on his third revision of tonight's speech. now all he has to do is deliver it. lee cowan, cbs news, san antonio. >> pelley: and that's the cbs evening news for tonight. as we begin our 50th year as network television's first half-hour evening news broadcast. i'll be back with bob scheiffer at 10:00 eastern time with our convention coverage. for now, for all of us at cbs

news all around the world, i'm scott pelley. see you this is 9news now. >> gavel has dropped and the democratic national convention is underway. speakers taking the podium are talking up the president's accomplishments and highlighting their differences with the republicans. delegates are also approving the party platform and that includes support for same-sex marriage and abortion rights. >> he has been the one that stood up for reproductive rights for women. he's the one that has been consistently out there trying to make sure that women get equal pay. >> among the speakers coming our way, martin o'malley and michelle obama. they mark the first night of three in which democrats will try to explain just why president barack obama deserves four more years in the white